Question 4 U: How long has the Catholic Church been around?

A question from MC's son, Wesley:

Wesley, that's a great question.  The short answer is almost 2000 years.  And Wesley, your mom is not that old {I know he was going to make an old age joke}.  There are oodles of Christian denomations that seem to sprout daily but only one Roman Catholic Church. 

When Jesus was preparing to leave us (us meaning his posse--the Apostles, His mom, Mary and more), Jesus was chillin' with his one of his BFFs, Simon Peter.  Now Simon was one of the first dudes to follow Jesus.  Then Jesus changed Simon's name to Peter.  Why?  Simon seems like a good name.  After all, there's Simon Says, that cheesy guy from American Idol, Simon Crowell and that funky memory game, Simon. 

But there's always a reason why Jesus did things.  Sometimes even today, we don't know why things happen but Jesus knows.

Now Jesus and Peter (the old Simon) were talking and Jesus said, "You are Peter and upon this rock I will build my Church."  {Don't believe us?  Go to your Bible and look for Matthew 16:18--Ask your parents to help}

 Good old Simon Peter

Remember when we said Jesus changed Simon's name to Peter. The name Peter means "rock".  So basically Jesus told Peter that when he is crucified, Peter becomes the Big Cheese of the Catholic Church.

So Happy 2000th (or so) Birthday to the Church.